1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to medical suture packages that enable medical sutures to be wound therearound, stored therein, and carried, and which allow the sutures to be drawn out of the packages when needed. More particularly, the present invention relates to a medical suture package that is configured such that, when a suture is drawn out, friction between the suture and a main body of the package can be reduced, thus preventing a curling phenomenon, and making the operation of drawing out the suture easy, and such that even if external force is applied to the main body, a winding depression that is formed in the main body and in which the suture is wound around the main body can be maintained in its original shape, thus ensuring ease of the drawing-out of the suture, thereby markedly enhancing convenience in use.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, medical sutures are used to hold body tissues together to close a surgical opening of the body of a patient after an injury or surgery. Such a suture is stored in an aseptic package, is opened in a place for an operation, and is drawn out of the package before being used to hold body tissues. A suture needle is typically provided on one end of such a suture, thus forming a medical device set.
Suture packages are devices for storing and carrying sutures in aseptic conditions and allowing the sutures to be drawn out when needed. There have been many advances in the field of such suture packages. Representative examples were proposed in Korean Patent Unexamined Publication No. 10-2012-0004489, entitled “Packaged Antimicrobial Medical Device and Method of Manufacturing the Same”, and Korean Patent Unexamined Publication No. 10-2013-0018751, entitled “Suture Package Providing Unconstrained Dispensing of Suture and Method therefor”.
Referring to the former gazette, the medical device includes a base having a storage space therein, and a cover that is provided on a peripheral edge of the base so as to cover the storage space. The base has an elliptical shape. The suture is wound around the base such that the suture is disposed in the storage space, and then the end of a suture needle is held by a fixing clip. Thereafter, the medical device is packaged. In this state, when drawing out the suture from the medical device, a medical worker uses pincers, holds the needle, and pulls it in a diagonal direction. When pulling the needle out of the medical device, the suture that has been wound in the storage space strongly rubs an inner sidewall of the storage space, so that the suture may not be easily drawn out. In this case, the medical worker generally more strongly pulls the suture out of the device. However, because the suture is drawn out in a diagonal direction, the suture may be moved toward the cover and a fixing protrusion provided for fixing the cover to the base and thus caught between the cover and the fixing protrusion. In this case, the suture cannot be easily drawn out, and even if it has been drawn out, it may become impossible to use it because of a curling phenomenon.
Referring to the latter gazette, the suture package includes a first part and a second part, configured such that a suture is wound in the package and then the first and second parts are closed to each other to store the suture. However in the same manner as the former, when a medical worker holds a suture needle and draws it out of the package, the suture may be caught in space formed between the first and second parts and thus not easily drawn out.
In an effort to overcome the above-mentioned problems, a medical suture package having an improved structure was introduced in Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1488777. In this technique, a winding depression is formed in a peripheral surface of a main body. Protrusion rods are provided on a curved portion of a sidewall of the winding depression so as to reduce friction a suture and the main body when the suture is drawn out of the main body. However, when a medical worker grasps the main body to draw out the suture from the package, the width of the winding depression may be reduced by external force applied to the upper and lower surfaces of the main body, thus impeding the operation of drawing out the suture.